73

By Kim Addonizio

May 12, 2017

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CreditCreditIllustration by R.O. Blechman

This poem is a loose, contemporary sonnet in the spirit of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73. Kim Addonizio, a poet known for playing the blues harmonica at her poetry readings, seems to reject the hegemony of high literature, stating her preference for “The Glow-Worm,” a song with its own complex provenance. Adapted from the 1902 operetta “Lysistrata” and recorded by Johnny Mercer, the Mills Brothers and others, it features the unlikely, parodic couplet (added by Mercer) “Thou aeronautical boll weevil/Illuminate yon woods primeval.” Selected by Matthew Zapruder

Matthew Zapruder is the author of four poetry collections and “Why Poetry,” coming from Ecco. He teaches poetry at Saint Mary’s College of California and is editor at large at Wave Books. Kim Addonizio is the author of seven collections of poetry, including, most recently, “Mortal Trash,” published last year by W.W. Norton & Company.

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